Читать книгу The Summer of Second Chances: The laugh-out-loud romantic comedy - Maddie Please - Страница 10

CHAPTER 4 Rhododendron – deceit, danger

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Over the next few weeks I scoured Holly Cottage from top to bottom. There wasn’t an inch of grubby paintwork that I didn’t clean, not a single scuffmark that I didn’t try to remove. The bathroom in particular took several cans of elbow grease. It looked as though one of the previous tenants had enjoyed more than a few adventures with unusual hair-dye shades. Behind the roll top bath were splashes of blue, green and magenta. Impossible to remove but if I was going to redecorate I needed to make some sort of effort. And it kept me busy, that was the most important thing.

I didn’t want to think too hard or too deeply about anything. I didn’t want to compare my new home with my old one. I didn’t want to think about what I was used to and what I now had. Above all, I didn’t want to think about the future.

One morning I realised it was nearly three weeks since I had seen Bryn. I wondered where he had gone. Even when I went out into the garden and made a half-hearted attempt at cutting the grass he didn’t appear. The mower I found in the shed wasn’t up to the task any more than I was. I found that very disappointing, as our gardener had been a wizened old man who produced sleek lines in the turf with apparently no effort at all. I’m no expert in these matters but I think the blades on the mower were bent or something. Perhaps it was the wrong sort of grass? At its best the machine spat clumps of moss over my feet and occasionally lumps of earth. I found an old strimmer in the garage and fiddled about with it, trying to untangle the ‘tangle-free’ line feed. It wasn’t much use at strimming but it was great for flicking gravel painfully against my ankles, so I gave up. Looking at my progress I could safely assume the ground staff at Wimbledon weren’t going to come calling any time soon. But somehow the beauty of the countryside was getting a hold on me. I had been feeling I was never going to get myself back on an even keel but the garden kept sending out buds and shoots of greenery like a powdering of hope over the bare branches.

I was used to designing the inside of a house. I had made colours and fabrics work even when Ian had pulled that face and voiced his doubts. Now I began to wonder if gardens could work the same way. Perhaps if that hedge was removed, if those trees were cut back?

Crocuses were beginning to sparkle in the grass at the end of the garden; white and golden yellow and purple – heralds of a new spring that only a few weeks ago I didn’t think I had the courage to bear.

I kept darting looks at Ivy Cottage, half hoping Bryn would come out, see how incompetent I was and take over, but the kitchen curtains remained shut; the top half of the stable door closed. Perhaps he was away? Maybe he was ill?

I carried on messing about at the end of the garden for the rest of the afternoon. There was a fair amount of debris to remove from the neglected borders. Apart from the bath there was a collection of foil takeaway trays, a rusted child’s bike, the remains of several very large nylon dog bones (that explained the damp dog smell) and a broken basketball hoop buried in the nettles at the end of the patch. There was also a rotting wooden construction, not so much a compost bin as an additional rubbish dump. I toiled away for a couple of days while the weather was good, and then realised I had only succeeded in moving the debris from the garden where it had been well hidden, to my driveway where it wasn’t. Perhaps I needed a skip? I couldn’t afford a skip.

I didn’t know what to do with all the stuff I had accumulated. Should I put it into the car and take it somewhere? If so, when and where? Bryn would know. And with all those muscles and also the use of his useful pickup truck, he would make short work of it. Perhaps I could take him up on that offer of a beer too. I hadn’t really spoken to anyone for nearly a week, apart from the boy in the mobile phone shop who had sorted out a new contract for me, and a friendly cashier called Maureen in Superfine who always seemed to be there in the afternoons. I’d tried going to the village shop in a sort of ingratiating desire to support local industry but they seemed to open and close when they felt like it.

I decided to give up for the day; I needed bread as I seemed to be living on sandwiches and my endless tea and coffee consumption meant I was always in danger of running out of milk.

As I drove into Superfine’s car park I wondered why I wasn’t cooking any more. I loved cooking; I even enjoyed watching other people cooking on television programmes yet now I was living on tins of soup and cheese toasties. Perhaps I should make more of an effort? Maybe then I would ask Bryn over for a meal by way of a thank you. He would like that. I didn’t suppose he had much company either. He seemed to live on his own. I wondered if his arm had healed up OK? Probably; after all it was three weeks ago and I hadn’t seen any ambulances pulling up outside.

‘Back again, my duck?’ Maureen said as she scanned my shopping, weighing my fruit and vegetables and frowning at the scale.

By then I knew all about Kyle, her son in the Navy, and Himself’s (her husband’s) bad back, and more than I wanted to know about her ‘various veins’.

‘I’m always running out of milk,’ I said.

Her face brightened. ‘Got a cat, have you?’

‘Well no—’

‘My cat gets through pints of the stuff, although Himself says it’s not good for ’em. I says to him, well if you’m so clever you tell Fluffy, ’cos I’m not.’

She scanned a packet of chocolate cookies and looked at them admiringly.

‘They looks nice. I couldn’t have them though. I’m supposed to be losing weight and if I had them in the cupboard I wouldn’t get no peace until I’d eaten ’em all. That’s fourteen pounds twenty. Having a busy day, are you?’

I handed over a twenty-pound note. ‘Well I’ve not lived here long. I’m doing some decorating. For a friend.’

Maureen rolled her eyes. ‘You can come and do mine when you’re finished! I’ve been waiting for Himself to paint the front room for years but it’s still not done. The paint will be solid in the tin by the time he gets the lid off. And there’s your change, me duck.’

I hesitated. There was no one behind me waiting to be served.

‘Are there any jobs going here, do you know? It’s just…well you know.’

Maureen sucked her cheeks in. ‘No, I don’t think so. You’d have to ask at the so-called Help Desk. Not that they will be much help if they can avoid it. Too busy gossiping and complaining and messing about with rotas. But you could ask.’

‘Thanks.’

I wandered past the Help Desk where two women in purple suits were busy tapping in barcodes and sighing as they tried to organise a refund for a harassed-looking woman with two toddlers who were rolling on the floor kicking each other. Perhaps another day.

Three days later I noticed the stable door into the kitchen was open again and my heart gave a little leap. Bryn was back from wherever he had disappeared to.

I went upstairs to change into a clean T-shirt, slick on some red lip-gloss and run a comb through my hair. After fiddling about for a few moments I tied my hair back and wiped off the lip-gloss. Then I changed into another shirt and faffed about wondering how many buttons to do up or undo. Then I added some blusher and a smudge of grey eye shadow. And a pink lip-gloss.

I took a look at myself in the bathroom mirror and rolled my eyes. For heaven’s sake, my brown hair needed cutting, my blue eyes under the badly smeared eye shadow looked tired. More than that, I looked like a right clown. What on earth was I playing at? I just needed the man next door to come and help me move a bath, it didn’t matter what colour my mouth was.

On my way to Bryn’s front door I noticed a car parked around the side of his house. A red, soft top sports something and I wondered how he would fit his long legs into that. I went and knocked on the door.

After a moment I heard someone moving about inside. I hesitated, my hand raised, wondering if I should knock again and then the door opened. Not Bryn at all but a glorious redhead in tight jeans and a baggy boyfriend jumper that was in danger of slipping off her tanned shoulder.

‘Hi,’ she said.

She looked down at me from atop her long legs and gave a dazzling smile that spoke of several thousand pounds and many hours at the orthodontist.

‘I’m Bonnie, you must be the caterer.’

Bonnie? She certainly was. But caterer? As if. And who was she? Sister? Girlfriend? Wife?

‘Bonnie?’ I said.

She laughed and tossed her because-I’m-worth-it hair about.

‘Short for Bonita. Which is a ghastly name isn’t it? Do come in,’ she said.

Mesmerised, I followed her pert bottom down the hallway and into the kitchen. I had assumed this house was a mirror image of mine but it was bigger. There was a conservatory tacked onto the side and some sort of extension or office in the garden beyond, half hidden by some bushes. I suppose I should have told Bonnie I wasn’t the caterer but at this stage I was far too busy being nosey.

I caught a glimpse of a sitting room painted in dark red with floor to ceiling bookcases, a beautiful grandfather clock in the hall and then she took me into the kitchen. It was rather old fashioned with a huge built-in dresser and under the window a Belfast sink with a red gingham curtain underneath it.

‘So it’s going to be a surprise party,’ Bonnie said, leaning back against a newish and familiar-looking granite worktop (probably Sahara Sparkle), ‘for about twenty. OK?’

‘Well I’m not actually…’

She flicked her hair back. ‘Maybe twenty-five.’

‘Yes, but…’

‘Do you like vegetarians?’

‘I couldn’t eat a whole one,’ I said.

Bonnie frowned rather attractively. ‘Sorry?’

‘Look I think there has been some misunderstanding.’

She blinked a couple of times and looked at me, waiting for me to explain.

‘I was hoping to see Bryn. Is he around?’

‘Well no, not until tonight, who are you then?’ Her tone was suddenly rather frosty.

‘I’m Charlotte – Lottie from next door.’ I pointed in the direction of my cottage.

And who are you? And why are you throwing a surprise party?

She suddenly looked very annoyed. It was as though someone had flicked a switch. ‘You’re not the caterer? Not from Delicioso?’

‘No.’

Bonnie gave an extravagant sigh and rolled her large, hazel eyes.

‘Next door? Oh I see. Jeez. Why didn’t you say? I didn’t realise…I knew…oh never mind. She was supposed to be here half an hour ago.’

Bonnie did what anyone would have done when they found themselves in this situation and checked her phone.

‘Hmm I’ve missed a call. Bloody crap reception here.’

She listened to a message and sighed.

‘Not coming?’

‘No.’ Her pretty mouth tightened in annoyance. ‘Are you sure you’re not a caterer?’

‘Positive.’

She gnawed at a manicured thumbnail. ‘It’s Bryn’s birthday soon; I thought I’d throw him a surprise party.’

‘Does he like surprise parties?’

I’d bet a month’s non-existent salary he didn’t.

‘No, he hates them, but I think they’re fun.’ Bonnie waved her phone again. ‘They can’t get here until after the weekend, and that’s no good.’

I thought hard about what I could say to get her to tell me what her relationship was to Bryn but I couldn’t think of anything that didn’t make me sound like a stalker.

‘You don’t know anyone I could ring do you?’

I shook my head. ‘Sorry, I’ve haven’t lived here long.’

Bonnie pouted. ‘Delicioso were my last hope. It’s frigging impossible round here; it’s like the bloody dark ages. I keep telling him to move.’

‘Have you tried the Internet?’

Bonnie shot me a withering look. ‘Or extra-super-slow-narrow-band as we prefer to call it? You must be joking.’

‘Well you could try ringing around.’ I made a move to the door. ‘I just called to see if Bryn’s arm was OK. He had a nasty cut…’ I hesitated as I saw her eyes glaze over.

‘I’ve no idea, he has a silly thing with blood, I never take much notice. It just encourages him.’

‘Ah, well it was some time ago. OK. I just…well perhaps I’ll catch up with Bryn later.’

‘I wouldn’t bother if I were you. He doesn’t like visitors. As a rule. He’s a very private person. We both are.’

I had the feeling she was delivering some subliminal message but I didn’t quite get it.

Bonnie picked up a battered copy of the Yellow Pages with the tips of her fingers and looked at the cover as though it was written in Swahili.

‘Not after all the trouble with Mrs Webster next door,’ she continued, her voice casually silky. She fired me a sharp look filled with meaning and I shrugged.

‘Mrs Webster had a…thing for Bryn, I’m afraid. She seemed to think there was something between them. Obviously not, but a lot of women…well let’s just say she was punching way above her not inconsiderable weight.’

‘Ah.’

‘Yes, I’m sure you understand.’

Open brackets he’s mine so keep your paws off close brackets.

There didn’t seem much to say after that so I made my way back to Holly Cottage, noticing again with a twinge of envy how beautifully kept Ivy Cottage’s gardens were in comparison to my own.

There were drifts of new colour along the borders as the first of the spring flowers began to bloom; I could glimpse regimented rows of bamboo canes and a trellis laden with burgeoning something. I wished for a moment that I could sneak in and take a proper look. Perhaps if Bonnie hadn’t been there I might have risked it.

I went to the end of the garden and leaned over the fence and was startled when my mobile rang. It was Jess. I had received some texts and a couple of emails but this was the first phone call I’d had for a while.

‘At last! How’s it going, Lottie? Are you OK?’ She sounded just as scatty as ever. I could almost imagine her twirling her hair around her fingers and looking in the mirror for non-existent wrinkles as she spoke to me.

‘I’ve been trying to ring you for days. The signal down there is pants.’

‘Yes, fine, I’ve just been cleaning. I was wondering what to do with the junk in the garden?’

‘Greg will take it away. He’s on his way over in the van. That’s why I’m ringing. He’ll drop off your stuff and load up.’

Her voice sounded odd, as though she was putting on mascara as she was talking.

‘I don’t even know where the tip is. And there’s a stinking wet carpet…’

‘Oh, Lottie! Stop panicking. Greg will sort it out. He’s got that paint for you too. The chalky stuff you wanted. Mouse’s Bum and Coco something. Greg says they are grey and beige and I’m round the bend; thirty pounds for a tin when he can get big tubs of trade white for a fiver. His idea of cutting-edge design is woodchip and magnolia. I told him to beak out of it. I know you’re going to make the place look fab. I hope you’re still up for it?’

‘Yes, of course I am. Bring it on. I’m having a great time. ’

‘Greg might measure up for the new carpets when he gets there. He knows a bloke who will do him a deal. For God’s sake don’t let him buy brown, he doesn’t think there’s any other colour. What did you have in your old hallway? With the stripy wallpaper? Do you remember?’

‘Can’t remember, it was called Pumice, I think.’

I thought back. But all I could remember was that New Year’s Eve party.

Greg and Jess Palmer had been the last to arrive that night, bringing with them their own style and dress code. Their arrival almost caused Ian to trample on his other guests, he was so eager to get to them. Greg stood out in a smooth and expensive-looking dark suit and Jess looked like a high-end stripper in red sequins and studded stilettos. Ian wasn’t actually drooling but it was a pretty close thing.

‘I love this house,’ she purred as she slipped off her (at least I think it was fake) fur, revealing gleaming bronzed shoulders and most of her bosom. ‘Greg and I viewed a place just up the road when we was looking to move here. We always hoped this one would come on the market, if I’m honest. How long did you say you’d lived here?’

‘Nearly eight years, although Ian has been here about ten,’ I said.

We were becoming good friends by this point and now Ian had managed to get his hooks into Greg I had the feeling we might progress from just seeing the Palmers occasionally in the paper shop, the gym and the golf club to seeing a lot of them over the next few months as Ian and Greg blue-sky-thought together as to how best to invest Greg’s money.

‘I love this,’ she said, running a tiny hand over my striped grey wallpaper, ‘and the lighting too. And I really love the colour of that carpet. It’s really classy, ain’t it, Gregsy?’

‘I have a thing about lighting,’ I said. ‘I hate seeing the light bulbs.’

‘You got a great eye for design. You could give me some tips once the en suites are finished. Greg wants to put seagull wallpaper in one and ducks in the other. No, don’t laugh, he’s perfectly serious. Even I can see that’s naff. I only ever do white and cream with lots of gold accents. It doesn’t look the same over here though. Not like it did in Spain. More duller. Must be the lack of sunshine,’ Jess said.

‘Well, the Met Office says we are in for a BBQ summer,’ I said.

‘Really?’ Jess looked hopeful. Her blue eyes gazed at me, lash extensions fluttering.

‘They’re usually wrong so don’t get your hopes up just yet.’ I held out a platter of vol-au-vents and Jess reeled away as though I was offering her strychnine.

‘Oh dear, no thanks, I mustn’t. I get a bit funny about carbs after seven o’clock,’ she said, patting her non-existent tummy. She fished about on the plate for a celery baton and nibbled it, shoulders hunched. Her expression of robust enjoyment was one I usually reserved for cake but I suppose we can’t all be the same.

‘So when are you planning to rent out Holly Cottage again?’ I said.

Jess spoke through stretched lips this time, as though she was putting on lipstick. ‘Oh I don’t know. I’m still not sure what I want to do. I did think of selling it. Anyway. See how we go. A couple of months, maybe?’

‘You mustn’t let me get in the way of that,’ I said.

‘Lottie, I’m just grateful you’ve taken this off my hands. It’s no good asking Greg’s men to do it, they would just slap up some lining paper, paint it with whatever was left over from another job, shove in some off cuts of carpet and it would look rubbish in no time and I’d be back to square one. Look, I’d better go. I’ve got heaps to do here. Greg should be arriving with you soon anyway and – um – Bryn’s not about, is he?’

‘No, I haven’t seen him for a while. I don’t know where he is. There’s someone called Bonnie here though.’

‘Bonnie? Why the…Oh, of course, I remember – Bryn’s gone to Chelsea. Just as well.’

I frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Oh nothing. Look, I’ll shoot off now, there’s someone at the door. And whatever you do, don’t give Greg any cake!’

Jess ended the call, leaving me more than a bit confused. Bryn and Greg were brothers, weren’t they? So why should it be good that Bryn wasn’t there? And he’d gone to Chelsea? What was he doing in Chelsea? He didn’t look like a footballer. Did he?

Twenty minutes later I heard the unfamiliar sound of a vehicle driving up the lane and stopping. I peered through the sitting-room window, holding my breath. The view down towards the village was glorious; especially now the local farmer had cut back the hedges. I could see all the way to the church and the sunlight was glinting off the gold-painted weather vane on the top. But even after all this time I still felt the same plunge of dread when the phone rang or people came to the house unexpectedly. Today there was nothing to worry about; it was just Greg in his white van. I sighed with relief and went to open the front door.

‘Princess!’ he called. ‘How’s it goin’?’ He was quite casually dressed in head to toe Ralph Lauren. Well, casual for him anyway.

‘Great.’ I went out onto the drive and watched as he unlocked the back of the vehicle. Inside I could see a load of decorating stuff. Paintbrushes, huge tubs of paint, and folded-up dustsheets. Beyond that there were some familiar-looking boxes and bags containing the rest of my clothes and other things I had managed to salvage before the house was sold.

I felt an unexpected pang of irritation. Whatever was in those bags I had managed without perfectly well. Perhaps I was having a change of heart? Maybe it was the shock? I was beginning to enjoy having less clutter. That would make a change after decades of hoarding and wanting stuff. Perhaps now I would learn to embrace clear worktops, sweeping expanses of bare white walls with just one artistic twig in a glass frame. In years to come I would ask people to take off their shoes before they walked on my white carpets and I would talk knowledgeably about the liberation of minimalism.

On the other hand I could see my television and numerous wooden cases saved from Ian’s extensive wine collection and my spirits rose several notches. Now that was the best thing I had seen for ages. Well, apart from Bryn with his shirt off but I suppose that shouldn’t really count.

Greg came to envelop me in a friendly hug. He smelled of expensive aftershave and cigarettes and I tried to think how long it had been since a man had actually touched me with affection. It must have been months. I also tried to remember when I had smoked my last cigarette. At nearly ten quid a packet I definitely couldn’t afford them. Perhaps giving up would be the one good thing to come out of this mess.

‘All OK?’ he said.

‘Yes, fine, really.’

Greg jerked his chin at Ivy Cottage. ‘He’s not in then?’

‘Bryn? No, he’s been away for a few—’

‘Good, good. Well I’ll get this lot unloaded and then we’ll have a cuppa, eh? Stick the kettle on, there’s a good girl.’

‘Can’t I help you?’ I hovered around him, hands flapping. For one thing I feared for his crisp blue and white striped shirt.

‘Nah, piece of cake, won’t take me a sec. Jess says you’ve got some junk for me to take.’

‘Stuff I’ve pulled out from the garden; an old bike, some rotten wood and of course there’s a wet carpet. It stinks.’

‘Nice one.’ Greg turned back to the van and clambered inside.

‘Why don’t you want to see Bryn?’ I blurted out.

I don’t think Greg heard me because he didn’t answer. He jumped down and walked towards me holding a bundle of canvas dustsheets.

‘I’ll put all this in the garage, shall I? Talking about pieces of cake, I don’t suppose you’ve got any? Cake? Or I wouldn’t mind a biscuit if there was one going. Her Majesty’s got me on low carbs. I told you she would. I’d kill for a chocolate digestive.’

‘Jess said I wasn’t to give you any cake.’

‘Miserable cow. But she didn’t actually say biscuits?’

‘No, but—’

‘Well, there you are then. Just leave them out and I’ll nick a couple when you’re not looking.’

I laughed and went to put the kettle on.

I didn’t have room for everything in the house so Greg put all my stuff away in the garage, even the expensive clothes zipped into their dry-cleaning bags. I couldn’t face looking at them. A silk, beaded evening dress, an Armani suit, a Vivienne Westwood jacket, linen trousers and cashmere cardigans. None of it seemed to have a place in my newly small and unimportant life. I couldn’t imagine myself wearing white trousers or silk negligées ever again. Greg gave me a few funny looks and then hung the clothes from a metal tool rack.

‘Up to you, you could always flog ’em on eBay,’ he said.

‘Perhaps I will,’ I said.

Or I could take them to a charity shop.

I imagined myself sneaking into Stokeley or Okehampton very early one morning, dropping the bags off in a doorway under a sign saying ‘No donations to be left here’. Would the helpers be pleased to get such garments or exasperated? I had no idea. What if someone saw me and made me take them back? I shuddered at the thought.

I pulled out a tray, made a pot of tea and found two packets of biscuits. Bourbons and Custard Creams. Greg fell on them with an expression I could only describe as ecstasy.

He crammed in a Bourbon biscuit and munched. ‘So, how are you managing for money? If you don’t mind me asking.’

‘Ian and I were planning to go to France this summer, I had money for that in my account and I have some savings; I’ve been living on them up to now. But…’ I tailed off. Perhaps it wasn’t the most tactful thing to do, to complain about having no money when they were letting me stay here for nothing.

Greg looked thoughtful. ‘Oh well. Perhaps you could…no forget it.’

‘What?’

‘Nah.’

‘Go on.’

‘Get a job?’

‘I’ve already been into the local supermarket to ask about a job. There’s a doctor’s surgery in the next village too. I’ve left a message with them.’

‘That’s the way. Nil cardamom and all that.’

Perhaps I needed to try a bit harder.

Greg finished his tea and helped me take down the curtain hanging across the front door. Then he applied himself to moving the paint and the rollers in from the van.

I took up the thread of the conversation while we had coffee an hour or so later. Greg offered me a cigarette and I pounced on it with a cry of joy. He lit it for me and I took a deep drag, spluttering slightly. My head reeled with the nicotine rush. It didn’t seem quite as great as I remembered.

‘Anyway, I still have my jewellery. I can always sell some of that if the going gets tough.’

Greg blew across the surface of his drink and narrowed his eyes.

‘You’d only get scrap value. It’s never as much as you think. Unless of course Ian was in the habit of buying you Fabergé eggs? Or vintage Rolex watches?’

I pulled a face. ‘Hardly.’

I looked down at my emerald ring; I’d called it a commitment ring, not wanting to go as far as engagement ring despite the fact that Ian had proposed. It was a pretty thing and I clenched my fingers protectively over it. Surely I hadn’t come to that just yet? I had some pearls and a diamond pendant, bought to celebrate our first and fifth Christmases together respectively. I had various expensive things; even a bracelet in a turquoise Tiffany box, souvenir of our Christmas trip to New York. Was it only a few months ago? It felt like a lifetime.

God it had been marvellous. He’d really gone over the top. A hotel suite with fruit and flowers and an incredible view over Central Park. Ian had proposed yet again – it was like a running joke between us, he would ask me to marry him and I would come up with some damn fool excuse to make us both laugh. Let’s wait and see what happens with the Trump administration, I said. This time Ian tried to persuade me with the bracelet from Tiffany. I could remember his face so clearly as he gave it to me. Happy, proud, pleased with my delight. What the hell had he been doing? Stringing me along like that while all the time…

I remember having cocktails in the Waldorf Astoria. Margarita for me; Long Island iced tea for Ian. I closed my eyes. I could remember it all so well, the scent of money and perfume on a damp November day. I wonder now where the cash to pay for that had come from. A gambling win or just money siphoned off from the business?

I have been trying to get hold of Mr Ian Lovell for weeks. I wonder if you can help? I know he has been abroad on business recently; New York, wasn’t it?

Now I was on my own, living in rural Devon with my life in bits.

I felt giddy for a moment; perhaps it was the nicotine. I shook myself; Tiffany bracelets didn’t keep the cold out or the rain off.

I opened my eyes to see Greg watching me.

‘I’d better be off soon. Are you OK?’ he said. He took another Bourbon biscuit.

‘I’m OK.’

‘Cheer up, no one’s going to prison, remember?’ And he winked at me.

No one’s going to prison. Greg and Jess had come to see me a couple of days after Ian had died, bringing me a cake and a casserole I couldn’t eat. They found me crying over a bundle of letters and final demands I had found in Ian’s study filed erroneously under ‘Expenses’.

‘I know you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead but Ian was a right sod to leave you with this to deal with. It’s a right dog’s breakfast. What the hell was he doing? This is serious, you need professional help,’ Greg had said, ‘this isn’t just a couple of quick phone calls. Is the house in both your names? This building society letter is only addressed to Ian.’

I sat slumped over the table and thought for a moment, trying to remember. Never had I felt more stupid.

‘No, it isn’t. He already lived here when we met. He said it was better to keep it in his name, I don’t know why. Something to do with tax?’

‘That’s baloney, and if anything it makes it worse.’

‘Greg! Stop it!’ Jess said.

‘Well it’s true. I can’t dress it up. If these debts are real, and the house isn’t in your joint names, then the creditors will come after it.’

‘Come after me?’ I had a vision of more large men on the doorstep.

‘Come after the house. What’s it worth? Seven fifty? Eight?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘They’ll expect to sell it to recover their money then. There must be some equity in it.’

‘I had a phone call from the bank yesterday, talking about a mortgage. I didn’t think Ian had a mortgage. It was paid off. I thought it was paid off. Ian told me it was. He’d had some money when his grandfather died and then the business took off. He said everything was great.’

‘Not according to this.’ Greg waved a letter at me. ‘Ian must have re-mortgaged to release some equity. It’s not illegal.’

‘But he should have told Lottie!’ Jess said, indignant on my behalf. ‘I mean if I found out you were keeping stuff like this from me, I’d have your bloody nuts in a mangle.’

Greg winced. ‘Yes, I bet you would. By the looks of things he’s in…sorry I mean he was in one hell of a mess. I would guess he did the worst thing possible, and that’s ignored the problem. I mean, we all hate HMRC but there are a lot of small local traders after their money here. I know this one.’ Greg waved a second letter at me. ‘He’s a good bloke, a plumber. He did our en suites, works like old stink. This sort of bad debt could take him under.’

I pressed my hands to my mouth.

‘I want to do what’s right, even if it’s too late.’

Greg paused and looked at me for a few moments before he cleared his throat and continued. ‘Are there any more letters like this?’

‘I don’t know. Probably.’

‘You need to find out. You’ve got to know exactly who you are dealing with and how much.’

‘What then?’

He shuffled the letters into some sort of order.

‘Like I always say; when you’re going through Hell, keep going.’

Greg had then taken me to see a friend of his who was a financial advisor. The reassuringly named John Strong who had looked at me from under his beetle brows and tapped a pencil against his chin.

‘The best tactics with financial issues are absolute clarity and prompt communication, particularly with the Inland Revenue, two things Mr Lovell didn’t employ.’

Well that was true. I’d already spent an hour with Simon Bentham at the Nationality Bank and been told much the same thing.

‘Do you believe he had other reserves?’

‘You mean hidden bank accounts? I don’t know,’ I said, slumping back in my chair.

I found the courage to voice my greatest fear.

‘Am I going to go to prison?’

He smiled at me. ‘No, Miss Calder, put that from your mind. It’s obvious to me from the paperwork I have seen you were not a party to any sort of deception. If you were, then you were a pretty incompetent fraudster. Your signatures on the paperwork for the payday loans are poor forgeries. Possibly deliberately.’

‘Would Ian…’

Again, the thoughtful tapping of his pencil on his chin before he answered me.

‘Quite possibly. Elements of this look fraudulent not just desperate bungling. Money siphoned off from the business and not declared. There is the unmistakable whiff of cash payments in several projects. I’m afraid he didn’t cover his tracks very well. And of course HMRC are the very last people you want to tangle with.’

‘No, he wasn’t very clever, was he?’ I whispered.

The mystery of where hundreds of thousands of pounds had gone was only solved when a local bookmaker and the owner of a casino had added their bills to the growing heap on John Strong’s desk.

Apart from some large holes in the company accounts that he had tried to cover up, Ian had been a compulsive and untalented gambler. He had fallen into the classic trap of trying to cover his losses with the ever-elusive big win. Sometimes he had won. The new carpet in his study was probably linked to a bet on the Brazilian Grand Prix. The last holiday we had in New York came after an unexpectedly successful night out in a casino. But ultimately, he had lost.

At this point I moved from the classic early stage of ‘confused grief’ and moved on to ‘anger’. How could Ian have done this? How could I not have realised? Why didn’t he tell me? Could I have helped him? All those times when he had been quiet and distracted, I had assumed he was fretting over some kitchen plinths or concealed lighting. I hadn’t known Big Kev O’Callaghan from the Galaxy Casino was after him.

The Summer of Second Chances: The laugh-out-loud romantic comedy

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